Flaming Samurai
by WhatATwister
Summary: Five years have passed since the 7 Samurai. Katsushiro takes on a new apprentice and befriends a crazy old man.  But what happens when Kanna, is targeted by the new Government? Eventual Katsushiro x Kirara. Enjoy & review.
1. Prologue

Kill.  
That was all the dark haired man could think about.  
Kill. Kill. Kill.  
Funny. Another thing he hated that started with the letter 'K'. Just a long list that kept on growing.

Katsushiro stood from his futon, eyes closed. He spent so much time in the dark room that it was his the only place he could properly sleep. At least, away from her. Ever since he'd left Kanna so long ago...

He didn't want to think about it. He bit his bottom lip, and began to clean himself in the corner of the room with a washcloth and a small tub of water. The only thing in the room that looked anywhere near of value was a sword, resting on top of his neatly folded clothes. The room itself was empty, but for those articles, a futon, the tub of water and a small stand to place things on. He liked it that way. It was much simpler and easy to manage. The samurai no longer tied back his hair, which was unkempt, rather like the previous owner of the sword he carried. He pulled on his clothes, if you could consider them that. He'd worn them after he left Kanna, and he had gotten used to the rough, heavy fabric. He pulled on a pair of black trousers that stopped at his feet, which he pulled boots over, and then adjusted his pants to cover them. He wrapped a golden sash loosely around his waist and it hung at an angle. He tied the sword to it, and Katsushiro was done. He would purchase a cloak later, as he had a keen feeling it would rain. He left the room, stepping on a few leaflets of paper that the house keeper had left. The samurai left the room silently, down the stairs and out the door before a single person had noticed.

It was obvious he had improved his skills with a blade and a samurai in the long, five years he'd been gone. The sixteen year old he had been back them was a memory, vague and immature. Katsushiro had trained under some of the finest samurai he'd ever met, but Kanbei had by far been the best and easiest to understand. In his travels, he'd met an old man, and he called him as such. He was Katsushiro's contact.

The old man was wise and stupid at the same time, borderline insanity. The man informed him of everything and anything that went on outside of the small village he lived in now, thousands of miles away from Kanna. The village was usually rainy, but it was very rare for it to be sunny outside, as it was this day. He enjoyed the warmth of the sun. Every time he looked at a puddle of water from the previous day, he was reminded of Kanna, and the former Water Priestess.

But obviously, there were no plans for him to enjoy his peaceful, sunny day. He sighed and turned, hearing a commotion behind him.

**"WHAT DID YOU SAY TO ME, KID?" **A man snarled into the silence.

Katsushiro looked at the man. He was heavily muscled, but reeked of a drunk, even from the distance he was at. He looked at the child, no more than eleven, cowering before the man. It disgusted the samurai that a man would even shout or insult a child. He watched as the man raised a fist, and aimed it for the child. Katsushiro drew the line there. He was gone in a millisecond, hand on his sword. The man throwing the punch stopped moving. Katsushiro was between the boy and his fist, sword drawn. The man was confused for a brief moment, before howling in pain. Katsushiro took out a cloth, and ran it along the blade of his sword.

The man howled loudly, enough to wake the entire village. Katsushiro rolled his eyes. There was a single cut on each of the man's knuckles, but the cuts were very deep and he hoped they hurt. He looked at the child, who was wide-eyed. **"Turn and walk."**he said quietly to the boy, who obediently did as he was told. Katsushiro slid the sword into its sheath, as he heard the man fall to the floor with a loud _thunk_.

"What is your name, child?"Asked Katsushiro abruptly as the two walked to the edge of the village. Word would spread fast about his little intervention, and surely people would want to talk to him about it. He had no interest in gawking people or girls. Save for a sole girl, thousands of miles away.

The child spoke rather suddenly. "**Takayoshi**."*

Katsushiro smiled faintly and nodded. The boy was in obvious awe still, gazing from Katsushiro to the sword he bore. Katsushiro looked at the boy, and grinned. He reminded him of himself at a much younger age.

Takayoshi spoke up, his previously small and timid voice replaced by a more confident one. **"I want you to train me."**

Katsushiro wasn't surprised. He'd figured out that the child would ask that soon. **"Why?"**

**"I want to be able to protect people, like you."**

**"You are naive and foolish. No matter how much you want to protect something, it with die away with age or in battle."**

**"I don't care!"**

Katsushiro rolled his eyes. He did not feel like training the boy, nor did he feel obligated to train him in any way, shape or form. But he would. Kanbei had accepted him, now he decided it would only be out of respect to Kanbei that he did this. He sighed, biting his lip and nodding.

**"It will be hard."**

**"I know."**

**"It will be painful."**

**"I know."**

**"It will be awful."**

**"I know."**

**"Let's begin."**

Criticism is very welcomed as this is my first story that I decided to put onto FanFiction.

Its one i'm rather proud of so far(emphasis), and i strongly encourage criticism.

This is ongoing, but i fear i wont be able to update as frequently as i would like, but the second chapter will be up today as well, but it will be a time-skip during the duration of training.

*Takayoshi translates literally into "High Justice"

Side note: In my little version, both Katsushiro and Kirara were sixteen during the events in the anime series, making them both 21 at this current age. Don't get used to it, I plan to change that very soon.


	2. Time to Go

This is a very short little update, just to kick off the main storyline.  
Sorry if it disappointed some of you.

As always, criticism is very welcome.

* * *

Five years passed. Just a simple training period between Katsushiro and Takayoshi.

* * *

Takayoshi was sixteen, the spitting image of a young Kyuzo, with longer blond hair tied back at the nape of his neck. Takayoshi was calm and quiet, almost the opposite of Katsushiro himself at his own age. Katsushiro twisted around the boy, cracking a wooden bokken on his back. The boy grunted and spun, recovering in seconds. "Your stance is weaker! Drive forward! You use a real sword, yet i only use a bokken! That is why your sword has yet to make a crack in mine."Katsushiro said in a low voice. Katsushiro himself had not changed much in the years, save for growing a few inches. His hair was the same length, shaggy and unkempt. Katsushiro tossed aside the cracked bokken, taking up another from the low row. There were various swords there. Practice blades, but his own, and Takayoshi's were both very well kept in compared to the others with battered sheaths and cracked grips.

A majority of the bokken were cracked or splintered in some areas, but he used them anyway. Takayoshi was very strong in comparison to how weak Katsushiro had been at that age, both in mind and in body. The boy had resolve and spirit, and he had a very pure energy around him.

They had relocated, but were still close to the village that he had discovered the now-samurai in. The each had a small wooden shack (built by them, of course), and a waterfall provided clean water to drink from, and most fish that came down it turned into dinner, or pets. Katsushiro blocked all of Takayoshi's attacks with a single hand, easily stepping beside the boy and smacking the back of his knee with the bokken, causing him to drop. "Your back is open."He said in a solem voice. Takayoshi was a very quick study, powerful in spirit and even more in strength.

The boy was already well past Katsushiro's level at that age. Moments after Katsushiro had analyzed the weakness, Takayoshi covered it. He grinned and stomped on the boy's toes, and pushing him backwards into the water. It was more of a joke than an act of force, which caused the both of them to laugh and grin. "That's enough for tonight. I quite think your toes would appreciate it."He said with a smile, pulling the boy out of the water. He looked over at the forest, as the Old Man* beckoned him with a gesture. He looked as if he were about to travel.

He nodded at Takayoshi, who returned the nod. He collected his sword from the rack and walked into his wooden shack, before Katsushiro collected his own and met with the Old Man at the edge of the woods. "It must be damn important for you to travel into the woods. You usually just send a bird** with some news."he said in a calm, friendly voice. But he could tell from the old timer's expression that it wasn't a social call.

"The are rumors that a a massive group of mercenaries are marching on Kanna."

Katsushiro sighed and nodded. He had known that since the new lord had overthrown the peaceful government he and the fellow samurai had worked so hard to destroy, that something was bound to happen. "Do you have a sword, Old Man?" The fossil chuckled and tapped his back, adjusting his packs so that Katsushiro could see the slim casing of a sword. He nodded and turned, walking lightly to the shack in which his Student rested. He opened it, seeing the boy slinging a knapsack over his shoulder. He grinned, glad he wouldn't have to repeat himself. "Keen ears boy, just don't put them to bad use."he said, tapping the boy's cheek.

He walked to his own shack and removed his own equipment. He pulled on a dark shirt with a few buttons at the top over his training shirt, and then a long cloak over that. He slid his sword onto the gold sash around his waist, and fastened his cloak together. It was beginning to rain, so the samurai raised the hood before leaving the shack, seeing the other two doing the same. "We shall be going by boat half the way there. It takes less than a week, which is very valuable time we can save."He said, the old coot nodding in agreement.

A day later the three cloaked men boarded a small boat. Katsushiro had been able to barter passage for free by offering protection, however unlikely it was that it would be needed on the river, as it was a very peaceful time now. But that would soon change when the rest of the people realized what happened to the government.

* * *

The Old Man is the same as the one in chapter one, the prologue.

** Messenger birds were a very common sight in countries that had little real road systems.

And yes, I do realize that this isn't entirely accurate, but... I really don't care. :)

And from this point on, i'll be referring to "Old Man" as Codger, as its rather strange to be seen in text... :S


End file.
